Berube estimated that there are more than 200 members in the proposed class, including married plan participants and beneficiaries of two subplans who had the option to receive their benefits in the form of a single life annuity (SLA) but chose a JSA on or after December 2, 2014.
Under the terms of the settlement, attorneys representing Berube stand to receive $270,000 of the total deal, along with costs and expenses, as outlined in the filing.
Berube’s Background and Legal Battle
Mark Berube worked for Rockwell for 15 years before leaving the company in 2005 at the age of 50. His legal battle began in December 2020 when he started receiving his pension benefits in October 2019. He filed a lawsuit against the company and its worker benefits committee, seeking to represent a class of Rockwell workers who opted to convert their SLAs to JSAs upon retirement. Berube alleged that Rockwell had not provided actuarially equivalent benefits to JSA holders, thus violating the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
